


A Chance Meeting

by StephaniD



Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: Alternate Universe - Convenience Store, F/F, First Dates, First Meetings, Human AU, Neurodivergent Ezri Dax, Pre-Relationship, nonbinary ezri dax
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-15
Updated: 2020-04-15
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:07:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23669659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StephaniD/pseuds/StephaniD
Summary: Jadzia is on the way to a convention with her younger sibling Ezri when the car runs out of gas. They walk to a convenience store and meet a helpful (and cute) employee.
Relationships: Ezri Dax & Jadzia Dax, Jadzia Dax/Kira Nerys
Comments: 12
Kudos: 28
Collections: You fly I'll shoot





	A Chance Meeting

"Hey, can I plug my phone in?" Ezri asked. "I'm at 7%."

"The cigarette lighter broke last week." Jadzia sighed. "Don't you have a battery pack?"

"Used it up already. Jadz, I hate your car."

"Hey, my car is getting us to the con, be nice." Jadzia replied.

"You be nice, look at that gas level." Ezri pointed out.

"No, that's still broken." Jadzia sighed. "We are getting low, though. There's an exit in 12 miles, we can make it that far and fill up again."

"And get me a ginger ale."

"Ez, you _know_ you get carsick when you play on your phone." Jadzia frowned.

"Yeah, well, it's my own fault."

"Remember tomorrow that staying up is your own fault, too."

"Yeah, yeah.” Ezri dismissed. “We're going to be the same amount of tired."

"But I don't have the option of sleeping in the car while you drive, and you want to go to more panels than me. So you should be sleeping while you can." 

"Well, I'm not. I can have coffee tomorrow or something." 

"Fine." Just then the car slowed and the engine stopped. 

"Noooo, no no, you're fine, you have plenty of gas, come on Defiant." Jadzia soothed, rubbing the steering wheel, pumping the gas, and turning the key as she pulled over, all in vain. 

"Pretty sure it doesn't." Ezri observed. "Is the motel going to cancel our room?" 

"Call and tell them we're having car trouble." Jadzia replied, turning the hazard lights on, and interior lights. She grabbed her phone to call roadside assistance and found it dead, along with the external battery it was connected to. Of course. 

"Hi, I'm Ezri Dax, my sister Jadzia Dax and I have a room booked for tonight and tomorrow, we're going to be late checking in... Jadz, I need your credit card number to prove I'm me." Ezri said. Jadzia dug her wallet out and handed her sibling her credit card. "Okay, got it. Are you still there?" Ezri pulled their phone away to check it and the screen stayed black. "Fuck. Got a battery pack?" 

"Not one with any juice." 

"Now what?" Ezri asked, looking to their big sister for answers. 

"Now I guess we start walking." Jadzia answered dully. She was not doing a good job being in charge and taking care of her little sibling. "It's less than 12 miles to the nearest exit, we should be able to buy a gas can and some gas." 

"The average human walks at 3-5 miles per hour." Ezri replied. "It's going to take at least two hours to get there. And two to get back." 

"Then we'd better get going." Jadzia grabbed her purse. 

"What about our stuff?" Ezri asked. 

"I'm going to lock the Defiant." 

"What if someone pulls over to help and we're not here?" Ezri asked. 

"Yeah, right. I guess they'd have to just keep driving." 

"What if someone breaks in?" Ezri continued. 

"No-one's going to break into a piece of shit broken down by the side of the road. Come on, the longer it takes us to get gas the less time we have to sleep." Jadzia frowned. 

"I'm coming." 

"Are we even going to be awake enough to enjoy the con?" Ezri asked as they trudged along the side of the road. 

"I don't know." Jadzia sighed. The question felt accusatory, but she knew that if her sibling blamed her, they'd say so. 

"I'm cold." 

"I don't have any gloves or anything, want to jog ahead?" 

"No." Ezri gently bumped into her. "I wish I had music." 

"Oh?" Jadzia grinned down at Ezri and started singing the first song that came to mind. She didn't even start at the beginning. 

"Stop, someone's gonna hear!" Ezri begged. 

"No they won't. There's no-one around, and singing will help pass the time and help us walk faster." 

"Then sing something we both know, and start at the beginning." Ezri grumped. 

"Okay, then you start." Jadzia replied. Soon they were walking along the side of the highway, belting out showtunes. 

They trudged thoughtlessly toward the first building they saw. Jadzia's exhaustion nearly got the better of her when the employee said it wasn't a gas station, and she barely asked if they could charge their phones without crying. 

* * *

Kira had sold a bunch of energy drinks to a group of teenagers at 1 am, sliding coins into her hand as they emptied their pockets. She internally wished them luck with whatever mayhem they were up to. That was an hour ago. She looked up from her phone as the door opened, and a tall young woman entered with an androgynous looking teen. They both had dark hair and splotchy skin, like they'd been splashed with bleach. Kira knew it was some medical thing. 

"Please tell me you sell gas cans." The woman begged. 

"Sorry, no." Kira frowned. "We don't have a gas station, we're just a convenience store." She added, though the woman should have realized that before she entered the building. 

"Shit. Can- can I buy a phone charger and wait here for a bit? My car ran out of gas, our phones ran out of battery, we've been walking forever-" The woman was near tears. Her eyes were really blue. 

"Hey, yeah, of course." Kira almost vaulted the counter, but going around was faster. 

She led them over to the single table and two chairs in the cramped building. She ran and grabbed a roll of toilet paper off the shelf, as well as her external battery from her bag and the two most common phone charger cords. She dumped the stuff on the table in front of the woman.

"How do you take your coffee?" Kira asked. 

"Strong with a little sugar. Thank you." She opened the roll of toilet paper and wiped her face. 

"Hot cocoa?" Kira asked the teen. 

"Yes." The young woman replied. 

"How am I supposed to stay awake and keep you safe if I have hot cocoa?" The teen argued immediately. 

"You don't have to keep me safe." 

"Dad said-" 

"To listen to me, and I'm saying you're having hot cocoa." The young woman stated. 

"I can add a bit of coffee." Kira offered. 

"Yes." The teen nodded. 

"Sure." The woman sighed. Kira made two and a quarter small cups of coffee and added a fake espresso shot to each full cup. "Any food allergies?" She called. 

"No." The woman replied. Kira added a bit of creamer to the hot cocoa. 

"Thank you." The woman said again as she accepted the cup, wrapping her hands around it. Kira wasn't sure if she was shaky from emotion or the chill outside. Or maybe that medical thing. 

"Thanks." The teen had really blue eyes, too. They also had a rainbow wristband. 

"Once your phone's charged up a bit, I can take you to get some gas and drop you off at your car." Kira said, sipping her own coffee. 

"No, thank you, but you don't have to do that." The woman protested. 

"It'll be faster than calling your insurance or whatever. Besides, my horoscope said I should be open to meeting a mysterious and beautiful stranger." Kira smirked. The woman laughed and blushed as the teen clapped their hands over their mouth. 

"That's a good line." The woman chuckled. "But really, you have to stay here and work, I can't ask you to do that." 

"You're not asking, I'm offering." 

"Are you sure?" 

"Absolutely." Kira nodded, just as she started remembering the true crime tv shows her boss' son liked to watch. Hopefully this duo weren't serial killers or something. "I'll be right back, call if you need me." Kira went and checked that everything was locked up but the front door, and grabbed a piece of paper and marker from the miniscule office. 

"Closed for family emergency?" The woman read as Kira wrote. "We're not family." 

"Sure you are, the whole world is one big frickin' family, kumbaya." She grinned at the pair as she taped the sign to the door. 

"Well if we're family, you should know that my name's Jadzia, and this is my sibling Ezri." She smiled. 

"Kira." She smiled back. 

"Are you really sure about this?" Jadzia clutched her phone, Kira's battery, her coffee, and the roll of toilet paper. 

"Yup." Kira replied, checking her keys. 

"What if someone wants to buy something while you're gone?" Ezri asked. 

"Fuck 'em." Kira shrugged. "There's other 24 hour places." 

"What if your bosses check the security tapes?" Jadzia asked. Without looking away from Jadzia's gaze, Kira unerringly flipped off the security camera. Jadzia and Ezri giggled and Kira smiled. 

"So, where are you two headed?" Kira asked as she drove to an actual gas station. 

"There's a STEAM convention a couple hundred miles from here this weekend." Jadzia replied. 

"Steam?" Kira glanced at her. 

"It stands for science, technology, engineering, art, and math." Ezri replied from the backseat. "There's like, how to program Lego robot lessons and how to use the golden ratio in your drawings and stuff." 

"That does sound interesting." Kira smiled. "Can you program a Lego robot to use the golden ratio?" 

"Probably." Ezri nodded. 

"I should fill my car anyway, so I'll pay for the gas if you pay for the can." Kira bargained as she pulled into the gas station. 

"Sure." Jadzia replied. 

After Kira finished pumping the gas she got back in the car, Jadzia cut off what she'd been saying to Ezri and held a finger to her lips before turning back to face front. 

"Hope you weren't perfecting your plan to kidnap and murder me." Kira joked as she buckled, though she was a tiny bit nervous. 

"There's really nothing we can say to convince you we weren't." Ezri pointed out. 

"They're right." Jadzia chuckled after a second, it somehow helped Kira calm down. 

"Okay, you're going to have to direct me to your car." She said. 

"Up on the highway, before this exit." 

At their car Ezri tipped the gas can into the tank while Jadzia gave Kira back her battery and thanked her again. 

"Are you sure I can't pay you for the coffee, at least?" Jadzia smiled. 

"I'm sure." Kira replied. 

"I really hope you don't get in too much trouble. Here's my number. We'll be passing through Sunday evening and I hope you'll let me thank you properly, maybe over dinner?" She offered. 

"Sure." Kira grinned. "What about Ezri?" 

"They'll sit at another table." 

"Then I guess I'll see you Sunday evening." 

"It's a date. See you then." Jadzia grinned and left the car. 

Kira watched the pair high five before getting in the car, she flashed her lights to say goodbye when their car successfully started and pulled away. She sent a simple 'hey, it's Kira' text to her new contact before driving back to work. 

* * *

Jadzia bought an empty gas can and set it next to Kira, who smiled in acknowledgement. 

"She was flirting with you." Ezri whispered when Jadzia shut the car door. 

"Yeah." Jadzia replied and wrote her phone number on the gas can receipt. 

"Do you like her?" Ezri asked. 

"I think so." Jadzia smiled, turning to face the backseat and hear Ezri's whispers better. 

"Are you going to tell her?" 

"Probably, I'm just waiting for the right time. But that might just be the exhaustion talking." 

"You should tell her now!" Ezri said. 

"I'm waiting for the right time." Jadzia repeated. "And I don't need dating advice, this is-" she stopped when the door opened and held a finger to her lips at Ezri. 

"Hope you weren't perfecting your plan to kidnap and murder me." Kira joked as she buckled. 

"There's really nothing we can say to convince you we weren't." Ezri pointed out. 

"They're right." Jadzia chuckled after a tense second, and thankfully Kira relaxed. 

"Ezri, please take care of the gas." Jadzia said as Kira pulled up behind the broken down car. 

"I need the key." Ezri reminded her, Jadzia passed it back and Ezri left the car as Jadzia disconnected her phone from Kira's battery. 

"Are you sure I can't pay you for the coffee, at least?" Jadzia smiled. 

"I'm sure." Kira replied. 

"I really hope you don't get in too much trouble. Here's my number. We'll be passing through Sunday evening and I hope you'll let me thank you properly, maybe over dinner?" She offered. 

"Sure." Kira grinned. "What about Ezri?" 

"They'll sit at another table." 

"Then I guess I'll see you Sunday evening." 

"It's a date. See you then." Jadzia grinned and left the car. 

"Did you tell her?" Ezri asked when Jadzia was close to the car. 

"Yup, gave her my number." Jadzia smiled. "Maybe we'll stop here for dinner after the con." 

"Nice!" Ezri gave her a high five and Jadzia laughed. "What's so funny?" Ezri asked. 

"This is gonna make a great story." Jadzia replied. Kira flashed her lights when Jadzia pulled away, and a few seconds later Ezri announced Jadzia had a text. "You can open it." Jadzia grinned. 

"It's Kira!" 

* * *

“I don’t see her.” Ezri stated as they pulled into the parking lot.

“She might be waiting inside, or a couple minutes late. We’ll go wait inside.” Jadzia replied. “Got dinner money?”

“Yeah.” 

“Hey.” Kira grinned when they entered, she was wearing a denim jacket covered in patches and pins, her dark red hair artfully messy.

“Hey, thanks again for agreeing to such an early dinner. Ezri and I are kind of peopled out.”

“It’s fine, I usually eat around this time anyway.” Kira shrugged.

“Can I read your jacket?” Ezri asked.

“Later.” Jadzia replied immediately. “You know what you want, go order.” Another good thing about planning this dinner, Ezri could look up the menu online.

“How old is Ezri?” Kira asked quietly as the teen huffed and headed to the cashier.

“Fifteen, not old enough to help drive on long trips yet.” Jadzia sighed with a small smile.

“How old are you?” Kira looked up at her sharply.

“Twenty two.” Jadzia chuckled.

“Oh, thank goodness. I’m twenty six, if you were wondering.”

“Mmm.” Jadzia wasn’t quite sure how to respond to that. “I think I’ve decided. Back in a minute.” She ordered her dinner and returned to Kira, tabletop number in hand.

“My turn.” Kira smiled as she went to order. 

“Is Ezri good?” Kira asked when she returned, tilting her head toward Ezri who was standing nearby, looking at their phone.

“Probably waiting for us to sit so they can decide how close they want to be.” Jadzia chuckled.

“Don’t want to be seen with the boring adults?” Kira grinned and headed to the nearly empty dining area.

“You know how it is.” Jadzia replied. Kira didn’t need to know how her sibling’s brain worked, not yet at least.

“I take it this convention was pretty packed?” Kira asked as they sat.

“Oh yeah. Every panel had at least 2 dozen attendees. We ended up going to a grocery store Friday night so we could make PBJs to bring for lunch and avoid the lines for food.”

“Probably saved money, too.”

“Definitely, everything was outrageously priced.” Jadzia agreed.

“What did you do? I’ve never been to a science convention, I’d love to hear about it.” Kira asked.

“The keynote speaker was a NASA astronaut, but Ezri and I skipped that, even the overflow rooms were packed. I heard that all her panels were so popular that people were showing up to the room 3 sessions early to make sure they got a seat.”

“Wow.” Kira replied, Jadzia nodded. “What did you do?”

“Well, for a double session, I paid a little extra to learn how to do 3d computer modeling, and got to print my model from a 3d printer.”

“What did you make?” Kira asked.

“A wizard’s staff. It’s really simple, and only this big,” she held her thumb and pointer finger to show how long it was, “but it was really cool to be able to take this thing in my head and have a 3 dimensional computer image of it, and then have a physical object, in only a few hours.”

“It sounds really cool.” Kira agreed, grinning. “So, is this like a comic con? Are there people in costume?”

“A few, but not many. There was someone in a cardboard Lego costume who held a panel on how he made it, Ezri went to that and now they want to make one.” Jadzia smiled, Kira chuckled. “Some video game costumes. But mostly people in nerdy t-shirts.”

“In my experience, nerdy t-shirt people can be pretty insufferable.” Kira noted.

“There were some know-it-alls in a couple panels, but mostly people there wanted to enjoy the community and were happy to learn.” Jadzia smiled. “I imagine you’ve got some horror stories, though.”

“Just douchebags who assume I don’t understand what their shirt means, and assure me that it’s okay, I don’t have to pretend to understand it, when I really do and just didn’t mention their shirt because it’s not that special.” Kira shook her head. “I have a bit of a funny story if you want, though.”

“Hit me.” Jadzia grinned. Just then a server arrived with their meals, they thanked the employee. 

“So will this story put me off my dinner?” Jadzia asked.

“Oh no, it’s not gross at all. We have a regular who we call Magazine Guy.”

“What does Magazine Guy do?”

“He comes in every week and rearranges the magazines. I don’t know how he thinks he’s arranging them, since we have them alphabetically, but every Sunday he puts them in the order he wants them, and steals the latest copy of Time magazine.” Kira informed her with a smile.

“He what?” Jadzia asked incredulously, Kira nodded.

“And every Monday he brings it back. After a couple months we just all stopped caring.”

“That’s wild.” Jadzia chuckled. "And you don't know his name?"

"Nope. But I’m going to see him tonight, maybe I’ll ask." Kira shrugged. 

Jadzia had such a good time talking with Kira she didn’t notice the restaurant slowly filling.

“Jadz?” Ezri asked, standing nearby. “Can I sit with you or should I wait in the Defiant?”

“You cool if Ezri joins us?” Jadzia checked with Kira, who pulled a chair out and passed her jacket to the teen with a smile.

“Thank you.” Ezri murmured as they sat, gaze focused on the patches and pins.

“Defiant?” Kira asked Jadzia.

“My car.” She smiled. “It’s a hunk of junk, but it keeps defying the odds and continuing to run.”

“Can I interrupt?” Ezri asked.

“Sure.” Kira replied.

“What does this one mean?” Ezri pointed to a pin on Kira’s jacket.

“Noh-Jay Consortium is a band a friend of mine is in. Here, let me take care of my trash and I’ll tell you about all of them.” She smiled, then spent over 15 minutes explaining every addition to her jacket for Ezri and Jadzia. 

Kira’s phone went off and she sighed as she quieted it.

“I should head to work soon. Thanks for the great dinner.” She smiled.

“I didn’t make it.” Jadzia smiled back with a raise of her eyebrows, Kira sighed and rolled her eyes.

“Oh, you’re a dad jokes type of gal. Thank you for the wonderful conversation.” She corrected pointedly. “You two are heading home, right?”

“Yeah, another few hours of driving ahead of us.” Jadzia replied as they all stood.

“Good luck.” Kira replied. They headed to the parking lot as a group.

“Are you cool with hugs?” Jadzia asked.

“Not too tight.” Kira replied. “Battle jacket’s not the best for hugging.” They shared a quick hug and went to their cars. 

“You like her?” Ezri asked as soon as the doors were shut.

“I do.” Jadzia confirmed with a grin.

“Do you think you’re going to date?”

“We’ll have to talk about it, but I’d be willing.” Jadzia shrugged.

“But she lives so far away.” Ezri pointed out.

“It’s not that far, it only feels that way because we’ve been driving for so long, and it’s evening. It’s only a few hours.”

“A few hours isn’t ‘only’.” Ezri stated.

“It is compared to a few days.” Jadzia replied amiably. “She could live even farther away. Text dad, let him know we had dinner and are back on the road.” 


End file.
